Method of creating incentives for using wireless hotspot locations

ABSTRACT

A system and method of distributing incentives for wireless hotspots is provided. The method includes providing an access point to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices to wirelessly connect to a larger network in a publicly accessible location, evaluating use statistics of the access point of the wireless hotspot by portable devices, and providing an inducement to a user of the wireless hotspot based on the evaluated use statistics. The system includes a first provider for providing an access point to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices to wirelessly connect to a larger network in a publicly accessible location, an evaluator for evaluating use statistics of the access point of the wireless hotspot by portables devices, and a second provider for providing an inducement to a user of the wireless hotspot based on the evaluated use statistics

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of the U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/916,402, filed Aug. 12, 2004, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/315,145, filed onDec. 10, 2002, which claims priority of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/409,936, filed on Sep. 12, 2002. The subjectmatter of these earlier filed applications is hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to devices and networks that utilizewireless computer networks and methods of creating incentives forestablishment and continued operation of wireless computer networks. Thepresent invention further relates to methods and networks that allow forproper for users to access wireless services from wireless hotspotswithout requiring an account with each wireless hotspot location.Additionally, the present invention also provides incentives to rapidlyexpand the growth of wireless services to create an economic base ofwireless services users and wireless hotspots locations.

2. Description of Related Art

The emergence of what are commonly called wireless hotspots hasincreased the mobility of wireless users and allowed mobile users toaccess network resources without requiring a physical connection to thelarge network. Many of these wireless hotspots have appeared in coffeeshops and libraries, and allow users with wireless communicationequipment to communicate with local area networks and wide area networksas they move about. The locations that provide the access do so toattract customers or because, in the case of libraries, they see suchaccess as an extension of their governmental mandate. However, theequipment, monitoring and access services are not free, and the providerof the hotspot has to bear the burden of those expenses. As an example,a T-1 digital connection can cost approximately $1000 per month in 2002rates to provide such a level of service. If the expansion of wirelesshotspots is to continue so that they become ubiquitous, one possibilityis for the persons using the hotspots should take up some portion of thecosts.

In addition, there is also a “chicken or the egg” type problem withwireless access. Since the relative number of users of wireless devicesin 2002 is not high, establishments do not generally have any incentiveto provide wireless service for a small number of users. Similarly,while the number of establishments offering wireless services is small,users of the wireless devices don't not generally have any incentive tosign up for those services if they are available in only a few places.One of the benefits of having consumers pay for the access services, isthat this would allow for the party receiving payments to createincentives to expand wireless access and thus increase the amount ofpayments received by the party receiving payments.

As such, there is a need for a method or mechanism that can createincentives for wireless devices and wireless hotspots to spread the useof wireless access. In addition, there is also a need for a system andmethod that can monitor the use of existing services offered by wirelesshotspot to wireless devices and provide incentives to expand theexisting services based on use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to overcome the drawbacks of theabove-described conventional network devices and methods. The presentinvention is directed to software applications and systems that allowfor controls to be placed on the type and amount of data received andsent based on access criteria. Those controls are important in that theyallow the end user or the device to control the amount of data receivedfrom or sent to the wireless network that the system will process anddisplay.

Embodiments of the invention generally provide a method of distributingincentives for wireless hotspots is provided. The method includesproviding an access point to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices towirelessly connect to a larger network in a publicly accessiblelocation, evaluating use statistics of the access point of the wirelesshotspot by portable devices, and providing an inducement to a user ofthe wireless hotspot based on the evaluated use statistics.

Embodiments of the invention may further provide a system for allocatingincentives to users of wireless hotspots. The system may include a firstprovider for providing an access point to a wireless hotspot forwireless devices to wirelessly connect to a larger network in a publiclyaccessible location, an evaluator for evaluating use statistics of theaccess point of the wireless hotspot by portables devices, and a secondprovider for providing an inducement to a user of the wireless hotspotbased on the evaluated use statistics.

Embodiments of the invention may further provide a process of creatingincentives for wireless hotspots by a service provider. An access pointis provided to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices to wirelesslyconnect to a larger network in a non-private location. Use of the accesspoint for a portable device is authenticated by requiring submission ofan account identifier to the service provider and a user of the portabledevice is billed for use of the access point. Use statistics areevaluated of the access point of the wireless hotspot by portablesdevices and an inducement is provided to the non-private location basedon the evaluated use statistics.

In another embodiment of the invention, the use statistics may be thenumber of users of the access point of the wireless hotspot or the typesof services utilized by users of the access point of the wirelesshotspot. Also, the authentication of use of the access point for aportable device may be through requiring submission of an accountidentifier to one of a wireless telephone service provider and alandline telephone service provider. The inducements may includeproviding a proprietor of the wireless hotspot with a portion of revenuereceived by the service provider based on the step of billing a user ofthe portable device for use of the access point. The inducements mayalso include providing subsidized access to the access point of thewireless hotspot for certain users affiliated with the wireless hotspot.

In another embodiment of the invention, the process may includeadvertising services available from the wireless hotspot to users of theaccess point of the wireless hotspot, where the advertisement may bemade through the access point to users of the access point of thewireless hotspot or through a wireless telephone network. Additionally,the inducement may include upgrading equipment utilized by the accesspoint, where enhanced equipment may be provided to the wireless hotspotto provide greater bandwidth access to portable devices accessing theaccess point. Also, the inducement may include providing specializedcontent to the wireless hotspot.

Embodiments of the invention may further provide a system for monitoringof wireless hotspots and creating incentives for wireless hotspots by aservice provider. The system includes first providing means forproviding an access point to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices towirelessly connect to a larger network in a non-private location andauthenticating means for authenticating use of the access point for aportable device by requiring submission of an account identifier to theservice provider. The system further includes billing means for billinga user of the portable device for use of the access point, evaluatingmeans for evaluating the use statistics of the access point of thewireless hotspot by portable devices and second providing means forproviding an inducement to the non-private location based on theevaluated use statistics.

Embodiments of the invention may further provide, a system formonitoring of wireless hotspots and creating incentives for wirelesshotspots by a service provider. The system includes a first provider forproviding an access point to a wireless hotspot for wireless devices towirelessly connect to a larger network in a non-private location and anauthenticator for authenticating use of the access point for a portabledevice by requiring submission of an account identifier to the serviceprovider. The system also includes an accounting system for billing auser of the portable device for use of the access point, an evaluatorfor evaluating the use statistics of the access point of the wirelesshotspot by portables devices and a second provider for providing aninducement to the non-private location based on the evaluated usestatistics.

These and other objects of the present invention will be described in orbe apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the present invention to be easily understood and readily practiced,preferred embodiments will now be described, for purposes ofillustration and not limitation, in conjunction with the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a wireless telephone systemhaving multiple cells, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic representation of a wireless hotspot withan access point and several wireless devices, according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of a wireless hotspot with connections todifferent network entities, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 provides a schematic representation of the good and servicesexchanged to provide incentives for wireless access;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of the process of providing incentivesfor wireless access, according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of the process of providing incentivesfor wireless access, according to another embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of the process of providing incentivesfor wireless access, according to one embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a system and a method for creatingincentives to establish hotspot locations. Part of the incentive systemallows users of the wireless hotspot to provide identifying informationand be billed later for their usage. In one embodiment, the user couldsupply a wireless or landline telephone number and the user's accountwith the wireless telephone service provider would be billed. Thepresent invention allows for wireless or landline telephone serviceproviders or third party service providers to provide wireless hotspotequipment and service to locations to increase the use of their servicesand increase their profits through billing of users.

The process of creating incentives for wireless access may be carriedout by different candidates that seek to benefit form the expansion ofwireless services. One candidate for offering these services is landlinetelephone and wireless telephone providers, where those providersalready provide landline, cellular and other wireless telephone dataservices to their users. Following a similar model as that used formobile telephones, access to wireless hotspots can be coordinatedthrough wireless telephone service providers, with the wirelesstelephone service providers assisting in authenticating of users,monitoring of usage and billing of users for usage.

Another candidate for offering wireless hotspot services would be athird party that supplies services to the wireless hotspot locations,provides authentication of users and processes and forwards billinginformation to billing party. Thus, the third party would provide theinterface between the hotspots and an entity with which the user of thehotspot has an account. The third party could be a telephone company ora wireless telephone company or another service provider.

A general cellular telephone network is illustrated in FIG. 1. Multiplecells 111 b, 112 b and 113 b are established through the use of antennas111 a, 112 a and 113 a. Devices 101-104 having access to the cellulartelephone network are able to move from cell to cell and maintain accesswith the network. Each antenna 111 a-113 a can be connected through link120 with a service provider 130. The service provider 130 controlsaccess to the network and coordinates the handing-off of access as thedevices pass between the cells. The service provider identifies eachdevice and routes communication to the proper location of the particulardevice. The devices 101-104 may be cellular telephones, computers withwireless modems, or other devices that exchange information with theservice provider.

A general wireless hotspot installation is illustrated in FIG. 2. Thehotspot is controlled through an access point 200, with the access pointhaving an antenna 201 a to establish a wireless access zone 201 b. Thewireless access may be made through an IEEE 802.11 standard local areanetwork (LAN) or other type of wireless network. Devices 210-212 withinthe hotspot are able to communicate with the larger network 230 throughcommunication with the access point 200. The access point 200 has acommunication link 220 with the larger network 230 and the access pointacts to enable communication between the devices 210-212 and the largernetwork and between the devices. As examples, the devices 210-212 may becomputers equipped with 802.11 access cards, personal data assistantsenabled for wireless access, cellular telephones having multiple meansfor wireless access or comparable devices. The larger network may be theInternet or some private wide area network.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention. A wirelesshotspot is illustrated, with the coverage of the hotspot set by theaccess point 300 through an antenna 301 a, the range of the hotspot isillustrated by the range 301 b. Devices 310 and 311 within the range 301b may potentially establish a connection with the hotspot. The access tothe access point is controlled through the access controller 305, thatmay be hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof. Acommunication connection 315 is established between the access point 300and the larger network 330 where that connection is modulated by arouter 308.

Also illustrated in FIG. 3 is a wireless or landline telephone serviceprovider 340. The service provider 340 contains a database 342 of usersof the telephone network. The wireless or landline telephone serviceprovider provides services through an antenna 321 a, through aconnection 320, to provide a coverage area 321 b. The coverage area 321b for the wireless telephone service may also include some or all of thewireless hotspot range 301 b.

FIG. 4 provides a schematic view of the goods, services and informationexchanged between parties in order to create incentives. The wirelesshotspot provider provides services to the portable device user, such asnetwork access to a larger network, be it the Internet or a privateintranet. The hotspot provider acts as a conduit for the portable deviceuser to the larger network, and can also provide content that isspecific to the hotspot. The latter type of content data may be menuitems if the hotspot proprietor provides food or drink or may beinformation about access to a color printer if the hotspot providesaccess to such a color printer. The hotspot provider also can provideadvertising for available services, advertising ads for sponsors of thehotspot, or advertising of other entities that have contracted toadvertising served to users. In terms of goods, services and informationprovided by the portable device provides payments to the hotspot. Thatpayment can be direct payment for services, a portion of paymentsreceived through revue sharing and increased sales revenue because ofadditional customers brought in through the offering of wirelessservices. Additionally, the portable device user may provide feedback tothe hotspot provider. Such feedback may assist the hotspot provider andother entities to tailor their services to specific types of users thatare desired.

Also, in FIG. 4, the hotspot provider also interacts with either awireless telephone provider or a landline telephone provider. In thecase of either entity, the hotspot provider provides feedback about theamount and types of services that are being used by portable deviceuser. Such feedback is important because it allows the telephoneprovider to determine if services to the hotspot provider should beexpanded, decreased or maintain at a present level. The hotspot provideralso provides information about new users that may sign up for servicesthrough the hotspot. In addition, the hotspot provider also providesadvertising data to the wireless or landline telephone provider, so thatupdated information about the capabilities of the hotspot can beadvertised to the portable device users, as discussed below.

FIG. 4 also shows the goods, services and information provided to thehotspot provider from the wireless or landline telephone provider. Afirst incentive that may be provided to the hotspots would be equipment.Such equipment may be provided to the hotspot with, for example, theproviso that services be provided through the telephone provider. Inthat case, the hotspot provider would be able to offer services and notrequired to front the expenses for the wireless access equipment. Aspart of that arrangement, the telephone provider may also providenetwork services to the hotspot and can also provide content to thehotspot. Such content may be specific to the hotspot, such that onlycertain types of hotspot may carry specific content, e.g. a networkgaming environment may only be provided to a specific coffee shoplocations to provide an extra incentive to visit those locations.

Additionally, subsidies may also be provided to the hotspot provider.These subsidies may be in the form of reduced cost access to networkservices for the hotspot proprietor and their employees. The subsidiescould also be in the form of a rebate for extra equipment installed in ahotspot provider. The telephone provider may also provide upgrades tothe services and/or equipment of the hotspot based on the usage of thehotspot or other criteria. Also, the telephone provider and the hotspotprovider may engage in a revenue sharing agreement between them so thatthe hotspot provider receives a portion or a set amount for the amountof revenue that is provided to the telephone provider because of theaccess provided by the hotspot. Lastly, the telephone provider may alsoprovide incentives for users that may be passed along to the user. Suchincentives could be, for example, coupons to be found in the hotspotlocation for reduced cost for access or incentives to be passed along tothe user through the advertising by the hotspot, as discussed above.

Also illustrated in FIG. 4 are examples of goods, services and data thatare exchanged between the portable device user and either the wirelessor landline telephone provider. Included among those may be userincentives, where the incentives could be directly sent to the useroffering reduced costs or other inducements. For example, a user mayreceive such a message as a part of the user's download of data throughtheir wireless telephone. Also, the telephone provider may alsoadvertise the services for the hotspot location, providing locations ofand services provided by the hotspot locations. As part of receivingaccess, the portable device user provides payment to the telephoneprovider, where the monitoring and billing of the access may be handledby the telephone provider. The telephone provider may also provideservices directly, such as wireless telephone services and the telephoneprovider may also receive feedback about the user's experience withgaining and maintaining access to the larger network through the hotspotlocation.

The process of creating incentives for establishment of wirelesshotspots, according to one embodiment, is illustrated in FIG. 4. Thefirst step 401 calls for providing an access point for wireless devicesto wireless connect to a larger network in a non-private location. It isnoted that other embodiments of the present invention can provide anaccess point in a private location, but the incentives would bedifferent since all of the users would need to have access to theprivate location to use the private location. After the access point isprovided, users seeking to access services of the access point arerequired to submit an account identifier from a service provider, instep 402, such as a wireless telephone service provider. If the accountidentifier is authenticated, then the user is allowed access. It isnoted that the account identifier may be a single datum, such as atelephone number, or may be a series of data, such as a telephonenumber, password, etc. or may be a series of responses to queries froman authenticating entity.

The use of the access point is monitored and the user is billed by theservice provider for that usage, in step 403. This billing may be madeon the basis of how much time the user spent logged on to the accesspoint, may be based on the bandwidth used by the user, or may be billedbased on another agreement between the user and the service provider.Additionally, incentives can be provided to the non-private locationbased on use of the access point, in step 404. The incentives couldinclude discounted services for the proprietor of the non-privatelocation or some form of payment back to the proprietor. Such incentiveswould depend on the use of the access point by the users so that theproprietor would have an incentive to advertise the services provided bythe access point. This advertising can alert the users of specialattributes of the hotspot that may match certain requirements of theuser. Such attributes could include voice over IP, video streaming, ordetail the expected bandwidth that a user of the hotspot should be ableto use. As an example, a hotspot location could provide for rapidpicture uploading and that specific service may be advertised tointerested users. Additionally, the services offered by the hotspotlocations may be bundled, so that users may select the type or servicethat they want to be authorized for.

In another embodiment of the invention, the incentive for using thewireless hotspot location may be provided directly to the user of thehotspot location. For example, the use statistics of individual users ofthe hotspot location may be monitored, and when a user has utilized thehotspot for a predetermined number of times, then an incentive may beprovided to the user. Alternatively, the user's type of use of thewireless hotspot may be monitored and evaluated, and an incentive basedupon the type of use may be given. For example, if the user utilizes thewireless hotspot to shop at a particular online merchant, then anincentive may be given to the user.

The incentives given to the user of the wireless hotspot based uponevaluated use of the hotspot may, in one embodiment, be in the form ofdiscounts on goods or services. The discounts, for example, may be forthe location providing the wireless hotspot, i.e., if the wirelesshotspot were in a coffee shop, then the discount or incentive for use ofthe wireless hotspot may be in the form of a free cup of coffee or othergood or service provided by the location supporting the wirelesshotspot. Other types of incentives may be, for example, coupons, freewireless hotspot access time, free goods or services from a store orlocation affiliated with the wireless hotspot or the location supportingthe wireless hotspot, or any other incentive that would be desired by auser of the wireless hotspot. Therefore, embodiments of the inventiongenerally provide incentives directly to users of wireless hotspotsbased upon evaluated use statistics of the wireless hotspot. Theevaluated use statistics may include statistics that represent thenumber of uses, types of uses, content accessed, purchases made, time orlocation of use, duration of use, or referrals to the wireless hotspotor hotspot provider. The incentives may be presented directly to theuser on the user's device that is being used to access the wireless hotspot, the incentive may be snail-mailed to the user, the incentive maybe e-mailed to the user, the incentive may be text messaged or instantmessaged to the user, or the incentive may be provided to the proprietorof the hotspot location, who may then personally present the incentiveto the user. In the instance when the incentive is e-mailed, sent viatext message, or snail mailed, then the location where the incentive issent may be determined from the logon information provided by the userin the authentication process. Alternatively, the incentive may be sentthrough the telecommunications provider or another provider associatedwith the support of the wireless hotspot that has an account with theuser that includes the user's personal information.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a third party would actas an agent for the service provider and would create the incentive forestablishing the hotspot locations. In this embodiment, the serviceprovider, such as a wireless telephone provider 350 would have accountinformation for the user in its database 352. The third party company340 would act as a go-between and would maintain its own records ofusers in its own database 342. The benefit of the third party company inthis embodiment of the present invention is that the company wouldprovide the interface between the wireless hotspot and the serviceprovider and would not require any direct interaction between theservice provider and the wireless hotspot. Another benefit of the thirdparty company embodiment is that users could supply account data foraccounts they have with entities other than the wireless telephoneservice provider, such as a television cable company or an Internetservice provider.

The process of creating incentives for establishment of wirelesshotspots, according to the latter embodiment, is illustrated in FIG. 5.The first step 501 calls for providing an access point for wirelessdevices to wireless connect to a larger network in a non-privatelocation. After the access point is provided, users seeking to accessservices of the access point are required to submit an accountidentifier from an appropriate entity, in step 502, such as a wirelesstelephone service provider or other service provider. If the accountidentifier is authenticated, then the user is allowed access. The use ofthe access point by the user is logged until the use of the access pointis terminated, in step 503. After that, the information about the user'sactivities is provided to the service provider in a format that theservice provider can use to bill the user.

The present invention is also directed to monitoring and augmenting theservices provided by the hotspots based on use. An example of theprocess is illustrated in FIG. 6. Data are collected on the use of theaccess point by the users of the wireless devices, in step 601 and thatdata is used to make allocation decisions, in step 602. Based on theallocation decision, greater services can be provided to the hotspotlocation when the decision is made favorably, in step 603. Thus, if anaccess point has a high usage and users are not fully able to use theservices of the hotspot, then the access point can be provided withgreater capacity. Such incentives would be in the interest of theservice provider or third party company because it may allow for greateruse and greater profitability of the hotspot location.

It is noted that the present application is directed, at least in part,to wireless hotspots. The use of the term wireless hotspot or hotspot isapplicable to any wireless access point. The term wireless hotspot orhotspot, as used in the specification and claims, should not beconstrued to be limited to a single type of locale or be construed asproviding access according to only a particular wireless access format,such as the IEEE 802.11 standard. It would also be within the scope ofthe invention to implement the disclosed elements of the invention indiscrete electronic components, thereby taking advantage of thefunctional aspects of the invention. Additionally, the present inventioncan be implemented totally or partially through software.

In each of the above noted embodiments of the invention, the inventorscontemplate that the incentives provided to the provider of the wirelessaccess point, the provider of the hotspot, the telecommunicationsprovider, etc. may be provided directly to the user of the wirelesshotspot. As noted above in at least one embodiment of the invention, anobject of the invention is to incentivize users of the wirelesshotspots. The incentives may be in the form of discounts on goods orservices, which may be provided by the location providing the wirelesshotspot, coupons, free wireless hotspot access time, or any otherincentive that would be desired by a user of the wireless hotspot. Thus,embodiments of the invention may generally provide incentives directlyto users of wireless hotspots based upon evaluated use statistics. Theincentives may be presented directly to the user on the user's devicethat is being used to access the wireless hot spot, the incentive may besnail-mailed to the user, the incentive may be e-mailed to the user, theincentive may be text messaged or instant messaged to the user, or theincentive may be provided to the proprietor of the hotspot location, whomay then personally present the incentive to the user.

Although the invention has been described based upon these preferredembodiments, it would be apparent to those of skilled in the art thatcertain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions wouldbe apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of theinvention. In order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention,therefore, reference should be made to the appended claims.

1-22. (canceled)
 23. A method for providing an access service,comprising: providing wireless access to an Internet access point at aretail location; monitoring statistics of the wireless access;subsidizing wireless access cost in accordance with the wireless accessstatistics; and sending information and/or offers to a user inaccordance with the wireless access statistics.
 24. The method accordingto claim 23, wherein the method comprises: requiring the user to submitan account identifier to a service provider to gain wireless access tothe Internet access point.
 25. The method according to claim 23, whereinmonitoring statistics of the wireless access comprises evaluating aduration of the wireless access by the user.
 26. The method according toclaim 23, wherein monitoring statistics of the wireless access comprisesevaluating the type of service utilized by the user of the Internetaccess point.
 27. The method according to claim 23, wherein subsidizingwireless access cost comprises providing the user with a portion of freewireless access to the Internet access point.
 28. The method accordingto claim 23, wherein sending information and/or offers to a user is byemail.
 29. A system for providing an access service, comprising: anInternet access point operable to provide wireless access at a retaillocation; and a service provider that monitors statistics of thewireless access; subsidizes wireless access cost in accordance with thewireless access statistics; and sends information and/or offers to auser in accordance with the wireless access statistics.
 30. The systemaccording to claim 29, wherein the service provider requires the user tosubmit an account identifier to gain wireless access to the Internetaccess point.
 31. The system according to claim 29, wherein the serviceprovider evaluates a duration of the wireless access by the user. 32.The system according to claim 29, wherein the service provider evaluatesthe type of service utilized by the user of the Internet access point.33. The system according to claim 23, wherein the service providerprovides the user with a portion of free wireless access to the Internetaccess point.
 34. The system according to claim 23, wherein the serviceprovider sends information and/or offers to a user by email.